Reading the tea leaves

Economists continue to read tea leaves, looking for hints as to where the nation's economy is headed in the weeks, months and even years ahead.

Jim Limbaugh at Montgomery Bank periodically shares insights with me from a weekly newsletter he subscribes to. A recent issue of the newsletter expressed both optimism and caution about the nation's economic outlook.

"It's going to take years for the U.S. economy to fully heal from the economic disaster brought about by COVID-19 and the government-mandated shutdowns which continue to limit economic activity across the country," it read, adding, "a full recovery comes when the unemployment rate gets back below 4% and we don't see that happening until at least late 2023."

Three more years, huh?

Still, there are signs the nation's economic pulse is still beating, according to that same newsletter. For instance, purchases of cars and light trucks sold at an annualized rate of 14.5 million in July, the highest rate since February, when sales hit an annual pace of 16.8 million vehicles.

Another hopeful sign is businesses have begun rehiring workers who had been furloughed, fired or laid off. In May, June and July, roughly 40% of the jobs lost in March and April had been recovered and "declines in unemployment claims signal that the improvement in the labor market is continuing," the newsletter said.

Here in Missouri, the number of weekly first-time unemployment claims seems to have leveled off in recent weeks. During the week ending Aug. 15, the most recent week for which data is available, the Missouri Department of Labor & Industrial Relations received 10,612 initial claims for unemployment benefits, up from 8,984 the week before, but down from 10,829 the week before that.

While still two-to-three times higher than the number of weekly claims filed in the weeks before the pandemic, they're way below the number of weekly claims filed in late March and early April when the numbers topped 100,000.

We should have updated July unemployment rates for Missouri and Cape County by sometime this week.

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It looks like Jackson was getting its caffeine fix last week with the opening of the new Scooter's Coffee at 601 E. Jackson Blvd. The drive-through coffee business opened last Monday and, judging by the line of cars wrapped around the kiosk just north of Town House Hotel, the business is off to a good start.

In a related development, it appears, based on a video posted on social media last week, that The Ground-A-Bout coffee shop, which has been a popular spot on East Adams Street in uptown Jackson, will soon have a second location on the south side of East Jackson Boulevard, in the vicinity of Wings, Etc., and the Riverside Regional Library.

Watch for developments as things percolate.

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Future site of a new Dollar General store, 3927 LaSalle Ave. between Cape Girardeau and Jackson, is seen Thursday. The business is scheduled to open this fall.Jay Wolz

If you've driven on LaSalle Avenue near the junction with Route W between Cape Girardeau and Jackson, you may have noticed a one-story steel framework rising above a concrete foundation.

I stopped by the construction site last week and was told the site at 3927 LaSalle is the future home of a Dollar General store.

I reached out to Dollar General's headquarters in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, and learned the store is slated to open this fall, depending on weather and other factors.

The store will employ between six and 10 staff members and will soon be hiring.

For more information, visit www.dollargeneral.com/careers.

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